1181 Lilith

Picture of the Day · NASA

Pathfinder on Mars

2026-07-04

On July 4th, 1997, using its own array of fireworks, a parachute, and a cocoon of airbags, the Mars Pathfinder spacecraft bounced like a giant beach ball at least 15 times before it came to rest on the surface of Mars at 10:07 AM Pacific Daylight Time. After its then novel airbag-assisted landing sequence was completed, Pathfinder transmitted this color mosaic to mission operators on Earth. In the scene from another world, the Mars Sojourner robot rover is visible in the foreground, crouched on top of the unfolded Pathfinder. About the size of a large house cat, the six-wheeled, solar-powered Sojourner became the first successful Martian rover. Surrounding Pathfinder are deflated airbags and the rock-strewn terrain of the Ares Vallis floodplain. In the distance Martian hills appear against a dusty brownish sky. The Pathfinder lander was subsequently renamed the Carl Sagan Memorial Station.

via NASA APOD

Key facts

Discovered by

B. Jekhovsky

Discovery site

Algiers Obs.

Discovery date

11 February 1927

Named after

Lili Boulanger , (French composer )

Alternative designations

1927 CQ · 1925 QF, 1943 WC · 1953 CA, 1964 PG · A914 BA

Minor planet category

main-belt · ( middle ) , background

Symbol

(astrological)

Observation arc

89.50 yr (32,689 d)

Aphelion

3.1851 AU

Perihelion

2.1457 AU

Semi major axis

2.6654 AU

Orbital period sidereal

4.35 yr (1,589 d)

Mean anomaly

219.56 °

Mean motion

0° 13 35.4 / day

Inclination

5.6012°

Longitude of ascending node

260.70°

Argument of perihelion

156.05°

Mean diameter

20.492 ± 0.276 km

via Wikipedia infobox

Wikidata facts

Diameter

20.492

Orbital period

1588.75712535441

via Wikidata · CC0